PUTUMATALAN, Sri Lanka -- Sri Lankan soldiers are killing children as young as 11 years old conscripted by the Tamil Tigers in their last stand, a military commander said.

"It's very difficult to shoot a child. But it does not matter what age, you have to shoot," said Jaggath Dias, a general officer commanding the 57th Division.

The Tamil militants take boys and girls from their parents and then shoot the parents if they try to interfere, Dias alleged.

Between 50,000 and 100,000 civilians are believed trapped between the military and the militant Tigers of Tamil Elaam in a strip of land at Putumatalan Lagoon, the edge of the no-fire zone, The Daily Telegraph, of Britain reported Monday.

The armed children allegedly are pushed to the front line and given cyanide capsules with which to commit suicide rather than surrender to Sri Lankan troops, the Telegraph reported.